The president of the Brazilian Tourism Agency (Embratur), Eduardo Sanovicz, said that various measures are being taken to deal with urban violence in Rio de Janeiro. One of them is the Program to Prevent Crimes against Tourists.
All of this is part of the attempt to promote Brazil abroad. According to Sanovicz, these measures involve Brazilian society, apart from governmental organs.
The Program to Prevent Crimes against Tourists released a pamphlet with recommendations on how tourists should act in Rio. The pamphlet received support from the state and municipal governments and representatives of the private sector linked to the tourism sector.
A special Police Precinct for Tourists (Deat) was created in Rio. According to information furnished by the State Department of Public Safety, the Deat registered 1044 crimes against tourists in 2004, slightly higher than the number reported in 2003 (984), and more or less the same as in 2002 (1,049).
The state secretary of Tourism, Sérgio Ricardo de Almeida, affirmed that the city of Rio de Janeiro has shown that it is ready to receive large numbers of tourists.
“I believe that this New Year’s celebration, in which over 2.5 million people had fun in the streets, over 700 thousand tourists visited the city, and over 2 million people spent their vacations in the interior of the state, with no major problems, makes it clear that Rio de Janeiro, despite its problems, showed how it can receive tourists with open arms and how the population is hospitable. The problems we face here are the same as in the majority of cities,” he observed.
Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil
